


Late Night

by DiamondDarling



Series: Royale Instinct OneShots [1]
Category: Basic Instinct (Movies), James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Adam and Jean are living together, Adam has a secret, Adam loves his tea, Angst, Bullying, First "I love you"s, Fluff and Angst, Jean is a little shit and wants to find out, M/M, a bit of cursing, mentions of physical violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:01:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23737258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiamondDarling/pseuds/DiamondDarling
Summary: Jean finds a box Adam brought with him when he moved in.Adam reluctantly tells him it contains his old Highschool yearbooks and photo albums. The two get into a fight after Jean does not listen to his request not to look at them.
Relationships: Le Chiffre/Adam Towers
Series: Royale Instinct OneShots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709818
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	Late Night

He slept.  
Safe and sound, like a little angel on a cloud, wrapped in silk sheets as if they were his wings, he slept with his dark locks spilling over his relaxed face as if nothing could wake him.  
Or at least that was what he wanted him to see.

Adam had gotten so good at pretending to be asleep over the duration of these last days, at pretending to be unconscious in order to escape uncomfortable late-night talks with Jean, that it sometimes picked at his brain for hours and made him feel horrible for being so deceiving. He knew relationships had to be build on trust and open conversations, so he tried to refrain from it.  
He had originally planned to not pretend to be sleeping anymore to avoid things, but this time, this time he couldn't find another way.

"Adam?"

Jeans soft voice nearly made him shudder. Nearly. He was not going to pretend to wake up yet.  
Only when he felt a big, strong hand caressing his side, careful and softly as to not startle him.  
Jean was an insomniac with the horrible trait of overthinking anything Adam said or did, and then needing to ask about it at some point. That point being late at night, when Jean couldn't close his eyes or let Adam have his peace and quiet.

Usually, Adam liked these talks, they often ended in sex. And if there was one thing he enjoyed about being with Jean, it was the sex.  
But lately, the last few days, maybe even the last weeks or so, these talks had developed into something else.  
They had gotten more and more serious and emotional, and it made Adam uncomfortable, but after pretending to be asleep for a while, he had always endured them.  
Their relationship up until now had never been that emotional, sure, there were feelings and signs of affection and care, sure, they had moved in together rather quickly and sure, Adam knew Jean and him had something very special he hadn't experienced with anyone else before.  
This time though, he knew, this time was going to be horrible.  
Something Adam himself was to blame for, he knew he was responsible.

He shouldn't have told Jean what was in that box, that damned box. He had only been reminded of it's existence after finding it while clearing his apartment when he got kicked out, he had brought it with himself when he had moved in, that stupid box he couldn't bring himself to touch anymore once he had placed it in the corner of the storage room, not even to throw it away.  
Of course Jean would've asked at some point what was inside. Of course Jean would've pestered him until Adam told him.

Highschool Photo Albums and Yearbooks.

Adam had thought telling him would've been enough, in that startled, slightly panicked moment he had believed Jean would've left it at that.  
What Adam hadn't expected was to come home from the office after work to finding Jean flip through said albums. With a cigar hanging from his lips, which was almost the worst part about it. Jean only smoked those when he was stressed, angry, frustrated and or unhappy, since his Asthma prevented him from doing it a lot.  
He had definitely unhappy about the comments in his yearbooks.  
And most certainly angry about Adams black eyes and broken bones in those photos.

What had ensued had been one of the worst fights they'd ever had, and that meant something.  
Adam had never felt so... Not embarrassed, that wasn't quite the word.

Humiliated.

He felt weak, like a big lion who had shown his enemy his soft, vulnerable and unprotected belly, while Jean was raging about how Adam could've kept something important like this from him. God damn Jean, Jean Duran who now knew his weak spot, he knew about it, he knew about everything-

"Adam, are you awake?"

The hand on his waist snuck up a bit more, a second one joined to play with his hair.  
He couldn't trick Jean much longer.  
After their fight they had stayed in silence, a silence that made Adam nauseous and sick.  
Then they had went to bed, in silence, and had not even shared a simple 'Good night'.

Adam left out a soft groan, stirring a bit, trying to make it seem as though he had just awoken, squinting his eyes at the alarm next to their bed.  
"Jean it's- ... It's four in the morning-"  
Instead of recieving a dreaded, hateful or petty response, he was promptly pulled into Jeans arms in a tight, strong embrace.  
Adam wriggled a bit in surprise, yet the arms around him just held him tighter in response.

He let out a sigh once he had given up on escaping Jeans grip.  
"... I'm still angry at you, Jean. What you did was intrusive and a misuse of my trust."  
"I know. And I'm still sorry."  
Adam raised his eyebrows. "Still? This is the first time I've heard you admit it."  
Yet he didn't mind as much as he wanted him to think.  
Apologies had always been hard for Jean, he found almost nothing more painful than to admit he had done something wrong, even if he was caught red-handed. The fact that Jean even apologized at all gave him at least somewhat of a sense of serenity.

Jean pressed a small kiss on his forehead.  
Adam knew it was supposed to make him feel more comfortable, make him relax, but the weight of the situation, of what Jean had done and discovered was too much.  
"... Sheqer, you know we have to talk about it at some point."  
"Yes."  
"And you were the one who told me that bottling things up benefits nobody and just makes you want to commit mass murder."  
Adam sighed. "Yes."  
"Then tell me" Jean said, still playing with Adams hair.

Adam stared at the alarm, watched how the 04:09 changed to a 04:10, then 04:11.

"Is it too hard to start?" Jeans voice was soft next to Adams ear, almost too soft, but it brought warmth to Adams chest, so he gave a slight nod.  
"Please ask me what you need to know."  
He could practically feel Jeans smile.  
The fingers playing with his hair paused shortly, then continued. Jeans other hand rubbed small circles on Adams stomach.

It took until 04:23 for Jean to speak up again.

"... You were beaten."  
"Yes."  
"At home?"  
"... No."  
"School then."  
"Yes."

Adam could've bit his own tounge off. As much as he hated this situation, he knew he had to tell Jean.

"How many were they?"  
Adam sighed yet again.  
"Just five."  
Jean kissed up his neck to burry his nose in Adams hair. The hand on his stomach started drawing patterns.  
"...They were my best friends, you know?"  
The hand stopped.  
"They... Kept me around. When I was with them, I wasn't alone."  
"...When you were with them, you got your bones broken."  
"Only- ...Only after it came out. Before that it was just black eyes."

Jean took a deep breath. "Yes, yes I read those crude comments about your preferences."  
Despite all the tension, Adam had to chuckle, even though he was biting back tears.  
"The dark haired one, Laurel, he- ... He'd always be the one to invite me. To parties and hangouts with that group of five. And as long as nobody else was around, everyone was nice and we had fun and- but- but then others would arrive and-" He swallowed again, a few tears leaving his eyes.

"Shhh." The hand was drawing patterns again, softly, but slower than before.  
"He was the worst, wasn't he?" Adam blinked more tears out of his eyes. The pillow was getting uncomfortably wet with that damn saltwater.  
"He found out I'm into guys. He- ... Blackmailed me. I never broke any rules he gave me, I always... Made sure he got my allowance and my new things-"  
Jean gave a soft nod, pressing Adam even closer to his chest. "... According to those statements in your yearbooks, he still told everyone." "Yes."

Adam had witnessed Jean angry before. He had witnessed him enraged, fuming and nearly spitting fire, and most of the time he thought it was pretty hot.  
Right now, he knew Jean was angry.  
This kind of anger was new though, so silent, so calm and collected, so dangerously rational.  
It was scary.

Adam had never been scared of Jean before, not at any given point, even whenever Jeans anger was directed at him.  
The fact that he was lying in bed with Monsieur fucking Le Chiffre, an Albanian crimelord with so, so much blood on his hands had never scared him.  
But right now, Adam Towers was horrified.

Horrified of what was going to happen next. Horrified of what Jean would say, what he'd do, if he was going to treat him like a weak, fragile porcelain doll, if he was going to blame him.

"They broke your limbs. And they got away with it?"  
"I... Told everyone I played a lot of sports."  
"Your parents never questioned it?"  
"Of course not, I had no reason to lie."

He had worked so long to hide this.  
He had worked so hard to change his looks, his appearance, he had let his hair grow out, he had lost over sixty pounds, he had changed the way he walked, the way he spoke, he had gotten rid of his dialect, he had swapped out his fashion sense.  
He had become a new person, he had morphed into someone entirely else, so much so, that the only similarity he and that small, chubby Adam Towers who got beaten up each lunch break, who had his money taken from him, who was ridiculed for his sexuality, shared, was their name.

But this all went down the drain as soon as Jean opened those albums.

"They signed your casts."  
"To not be suspicious, yes."

It all came clear, his perfectly crafted charade, his actual identity, who he really was, it was all in the open now.  
Jean now knew he wasn't who he said he was. Jean knew he actually wasn't this strong, self-confident personality he had been portraying for years.  
Jean knew he lied to him.

"Jean I'm-"  
"I don't need a justification for why you hid it."

Silence again for a few minutes, then:  
"I understand why you chose to abandon your old self. I do."  
"You shouldn't. You should be enraged with me."  
Jean sighed, slowly pulling on Adams shoulders. Adam let him, slowly rolling onto Jean's chest and curling up ontop of him.  
"I am enraged, believe me. But not because of you, more... Because it happened. Because you had to go through it. "  
Adam took a shakey breath. 

"I don't understand. I'm not- I'm not who you thought I was."  
"What do you mean?"  
"You must think I'm weak. That I'm a liar, that I deceived you and-"  
Jean shook his head. Adam sat up, scoffing in disbelief. "Then what do you think?" 

Through the darkness surrounding them, few light sources illuminated their bedroom, yet Adam could see Jean's face clearly.  
The soft expression on his face made Adams heart melt and instantly calm.  
He reached out to wipe some of Jean's blood off of his cheek, but Jean instead reached for his hand and planted a soft kiss on it.

"I think I don't care about who you were or what you've become. I think I care about who you are as a whole, and that I shouldn't have been so intrusive. I should've waited for you to be comfortable enough to tell me."  
"Jean-"  
"I think I love you, Adam."

Again, they fell into silence.  
Adam stared down at Jean, entirely baffled by what he had just heard.

"Excuse me, you fucking what?"  
Jean pulled him back down, pressing Adams head to his chest.  
"I love you and I don't think your past changes that. I think I've gotten close enough to know who you are. And that's the Adam I love."

Adam pried himself off of Jeans chest and pushed his arms off of himself.  
He needed out, needed space, time, needed to process.  
He needed to he alone.  
He got up, pulling his thin blanket with him to wrap himself in, wiped his tears on it and made his way out of the bedroom, downstairs and to the kitchen.  
He put water inside their kettle and waited for it to heat up while searching though the cupboards for his earl grey tea.  
The sound of Jeans steps told him that Jean had followed him into the room, yet their sudden stop indicated he was now waiting in the doorway.

"... Jean, I'm sorry." Adam swallowed, staring at the cup he had taken out of the shelf.  
"You don't have to love me, Adam."  
"...I-"  
"You're living with me, you're sleeping with me, you contribute to this life we have. That's enough."

Adam finished making his tea, quietly thinking. These two gigantic things ontop of each other were almost too much for him to handle.  
First his past, now this.  
His chest was aching, he felt like his heart was going to jump out of his damn throat.  
He took a sip, turning around and staring at Jean.  
"You shouldn't have looked at them without my permission. But I also should've told you about it."  
Jean gave him a soft smile. "I'm sorry, Adam. But you had no reason to tell me."  
"If we are going to be... Like this, then I need to know I can trust you. And I need to know that you won't misuse that trust."  
"Like what? If we are like what?" Jean asked, confusion rising to his features.

"In love. If we are- ... If we are in love then we... I need to be able to trust you enough to wait and you need to trust me enough to know I will, eventually, tell you everything you want to know."  
Jean blinked, entirely confused by now. "We?"  
Adam sighed, taking another sip and swallowing slowly.  
"Yes, Jean, we. Us both. Because I love you, too."

A few moments went by with neither of them saying a word. Adam took a few more sips of his tea.

"I... Did not expect you to."  
"Neither did I."  
"Well this is... It's certainly not... Bad."  
Adam put his cup down on the counter and stepped towards Jean. "I guess not." He took Jeans hands into his own.  
"Listen, I'm not okay with what happened. I don't know if I'm over it or not, Jean, and I couldn't tell you if I tried. Who I am now is who I want to be, I feel comfortable this way and- ... I don't regret introducing you to this version of me. I'm glad you didn't get to meet... That person. I don't want you to think of me as that. I've changed and I'm happy with it. Don't treat me the way you would've treated me if I hadn't."  
Jean stepped even closer, their chests now touching, and smiled.  
"I'll treat you however you need me to. I'll do anything you ask me to as long as you'll stay with me. This doesn't define you. It just made you who you are."  
Adam snorted. "You cheesy fuck. Just promise me I can trust you."  
"Only if you come back to bed with me."  
"Of course."  
"Then I promise."

Once back in bed, Adam tried to be as close to Jean as possible.  
Jeans hand went back to play with Adams hair.  
"Please don't pretend to be asleep anymore to dodge my questions."  
"You knew?"  
"Of course, I've been watching you sleep for a few months, I can tell the difference."  
Adam let out a soft chuckle. "You creep." He leaned up to meet Jean in a kiss, a kiss that was vulnerable, full of feelings, as intense as Adam felt about this situation, as needed as he felt around Jean.  
And for the first time Adam knew he didn't feel all of this alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! I hope you enjoyed this Oneshot, this is my first attempt to write anything for this wonderful fandom and I hope it does it justice. :)


End file.
